dude, your creative thinking is fantastic! this is really getting my wheels turning too. setting up folks in two halves actually is what will probably happen. the last time i recorded there we did just that, had two guitarists and a bassist facing two drummers and a percussionist. I mounted the mics in the middle and kinda pointed the mics down on 45 deg angles toward each side, and then crossed my fingers. It came out pretty decent all things considered, but yeah, there was something missing. i didn't think it was as vibrant or up front as it could be, and a bit "distant".
i like your vertical xy idea a lot, that sounds very intriguing! i've been searching rec.audio and someone else mentioned running xy, but they did not mention the vertical part. but vertical makes sense. i assume if i ran this i would keep the mics down low? or up high and point them down? I have a Shure vert so this shouldn't be a problem.
not sure i understand the other part about one mic each way...is this kind of like what I described what I did last time, i.e. pointing them down to either side?
+T dude, thanks for the ideas, keep 'em coming!